


The Edge of the Map

by White Aster (white_aster)



Category: GetBackers, Persona 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-14
Updated: 2008-06-14
Packaged: 2017-10-03 03:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/white_aster/pseuds/White%20Aster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akihiko did not like the new caravan guard they'd picked up in the last town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Edge of the Map

Akihiko did not like the new caravan guard they'd picked up in the last town. He was too polite, too calm, too completely unruffled by the world around him. And that went for everything from the caravan master barking orders at him to the cook burning dinner to them being attacked by a pack of dire wolves right when they reached the edge of the caravan master's maps.

 

Akihiko had been too worried about Shinji and himself and the caravan (in, he had to admit, that order) to worry about the other guard during that attack, which was probably just as well. When the howls and whines and yelling had stopped and Akihiko had verified that he and Shinji still had all of their limbs, he'd looked around to find their comrade surrounded by a good half-dozen dead wolves. Or at least parts of them.

 

That was when Akihiko's dislike of Akabane Kuroudo had started. He didn't trust any man who could smile like that when he was ankle-deep in blood.

 

That night, Shinji shrugged off his wariness. "So he's creepy. So what?"

 

"So I don't know whether he can be trusted or not. He's too...." Akihiko waved a hand, then scowled down at the glove that he was repairing. "...too _composed_. Like nothing can touch him."

 

"'Ch." Shinji shrugged again, the motion interrupting the rasp of the whetstone along Guillotine's blade. "Or maybe he's just that good. I mean, he _is_ good. You saw him with those wolves. And those bandits last week, too."

 

"I know, but...." Akihiko frowned, trying to find the words. "It's just...like it's all the same to him. Like nothing _matters_ to him. How do we know he'll watch our backs? How do we know he won't--" Akihiko stopped, reading a warning in Shinji's eyes. He turned, and found, of course, Akabane coming up close behind him. Smiling. Of course. Dammit.

 

"I believe that we're on watch tonight, Sanada-san?" Akabane said, polite as always, as if he'd not heard Akihiko's rant. The Nihon honorific that Akihiko and Shinji had done away with years ago was almost jarring to hear, after all that time, and it got under Akihiko's skin for some reason.

 

Shinji looked from Akabane to Akihiko and _smirked_, the bastard.

 

"...right," Akihiko said, pulling on his spiked gloves and getting to his feet.

 

They walked the perimeter as the camp bedded down for the night. The air tasted of green growing things and musky leafrot, just as a forest should. "We should be out of the wood tomorrow," Akabane murmured casually, eyes scanning the darkness.

 

Akihiko made an affirmative noise. The last thing he wanted was to have a conversation with the man.

 

Akabane, predictably, was not put off. "Out of the wood and off the maps. Quite an adventure, don't you think? I have heard that there are strange beasts and stranger people in the East. Dragons and gryphons, impossibly strong in both tooth and claw and magic. Warrior priests of iron will wielding magical blades, and holy women who call fire to hand as easy as breathing."

 

"What, are you trying to scare me?" Akihiko asked roughly, cracking his knuckles absently, his back to the firelight.

 

"Not at all. Merely pointing out that we will soon pass into lands filled with challenges possibly greater than any of us, myself included, have faced before. I find that...a stimulating thought." Akabane turned, and in the dark he was a movement of black air, more sensed than seen. "It is the main reason that I have joined this caravan. It is...what matters to me, if you will."

 

Damn it, he'd heard, and now he even had the nerve to sound _amused_ by it. Akihiko swallowed down his annoyance and embarrassment. "Look...it's nothing personal. I just..."

 

"...don't trust me," Akabane finished for him. He shrugged, the movement barely visible. "It is quite all right. I have done nothing to earn that trust and would consider you a fool to give it lightly. But neither do I wish you to tire yourself needlessly in worrying over my motives. I am here for the thrill of the unknown, and the possibility that I might need an opponent of equal skill. That is all."

 

"Right." Akihiko let his voice get tight. Damn, he almost wished that something would attack them. Beating something to death was so much easier than talking about this. "Fine. That's what drives you. Well, I'm here because I'm being paid. And right now what drives _me_ is to get me and my friend through this job, collect our gold, and have a nice long vacation. If you can be trusted to help with that, fine, we'll...we'll get along." He turned and was kind of surprised at how close Akabane was. "But if you endanger me or Shinji or the caravan, then we're going to have problems. That's all I'm saying."

 

Akabane smiled with a flash of teeth in the moonlight, then bowed, formally, his hands clasped in front of him in a way that Akihiko hadn't seen in years. "I have taken on a contract here, and I will fulfill it. I will protect the caravan and all of its inhabitants, including you and Aragaki-san." He straightened. "I may be...odd, Sanada-san, but I like to think of myself as a man of honor. Hopefully I will be able to convince you of that."

 

Almost-forgotten instinct surfaced, and Akihiko bowed as well, then looked away with embarrassment, his eyes scanning the darkness again. "All right. Just...we both do our jobs, and everything'll be fine...Akabane-san."

 

"Indeed." Akabane's voice was almost warm. "I am glad that we could have this talk. You are a most interesting person, Sanada-san."

 

Only later, when Akabane had moved to the other side of camp to take up his post, did Akihiko think on what Akabane had said about his motivations and wonder uneasily if being "interesting" in Akabane's eyes was going to be more trouble than it was worth.


End file.
